Funeral for a Friend
by Wonderbee31
Summary: Someone at the Planet Express crew dies, and their counterpart must adjust to life without them


All the Characters in this fan-fiction (Fry, Leela, Hermes, Bender, Amy and all the rest) are all Copyright to FOX and The Curiosity Company. I am making no money off of this and am doing it for my own and other people's enjoyment. If you wish to use this fiction, I ask that you use the whole thing, not just part of it.  
  
Funeral for a Friend  
  
By Wonderbee 31  
  
It'd been a really long day, but the Planet Express ship was finally speeding its way home at last. Inside the ship, at her usual place at the control panel, Toronga Leela sat and mused about what she and Fry were planning for the night. This weekend was going to be the four-month anniversary of their going out with each other on a steady basis. It had been hard to believe, but she was finally starting to see him as more than just that klutzy guy that had been frozen in the stupid ages, only to wake up and screw up her life.  
  
Leela: (To herself) Wow. If he hadn't been there when he had, I'd still probably be stuck at my old job as a Fate Assignment officer, having to deal with everyone that woke up, tell them what they "had" to do, and just watch them go out of my life. Fry once told me that he believed in fate, that if something was meant to happen, it would, and nothing in the universe could stop it. I guess that's why he kept after me for all these years, even though I wouldn't even give him the time of day sometimes. I'm just glad that he believed in me, and us, long enough to keep trying.  
  
Just then Fry came out from the back of the ship, where he had gone a few minutes earlier to check on the dark matter reserves. Leela smiled warmly at him, and.God, she had come to love the ways that his eyes lit up every time that he was around her. It gave her one of the nicest feelings that she'd ever had.  
  
For his part, Fry was happy that after everything that they'd went through, that his deal with the Robot devil hadn't messed everything up. Thank God, Leela had been there to once again pull his fat from the fire, literally. He couldn't believe that she'd finally saw what he'd been trying to do for her for so long, give her an honest expression of his love.  
  
Fry: (Smiling at Leela) Hey Leela. The needle on the dark matter tank is about halfway between ¼ and empty. Does that mean that we'll have enough to finish up our delivery, or are we gonna have to go back and see if Nibbler's done any "business" since we left this morning.  
  
Leela: No Fry. I think we'll have enough to finish up, and the planet is on our way as we go back towards Earth. Then, tomorrow, we'll have Amy give the ship a good going over. Which means that you and I can stay out late tonight.  
  
Leela looked at Fry and gave her own kind of wink, something that Fry had come to recognize over the years, which meant that she was either joking around, or, she was planning something special.  
  
Fry: (To himself) On man, I hope that it's the second one. We've been going out for four months now, and we've had some great times. I just wonder if she's planning to keep our relationship at this level, or.  
  
Leela: (Her voice drops a little lower) And Fry, when I say that we're staying out late, I mean that we'll also be staying up late too.  
  
Leela smiled as she said that, because over the months of their dating, she had finally come to figure out how to say something that would have an almost immediate effect on Fry.  
  
Leela: (Thinking) I swear it's almost like watching a light bulb come on in his mind.  
  
Fry, for his part, had gotten her meaning and nearly fell over. He and Leela, they were finally going to be intimate with one another, something he'd been wanting almost since he'd met her that first time. But this, this wasn't just he and someone that he was spending the night with just to brag to the guys about how he'd manage to score. This was someone that he wanted to be with for the rest of his life. Well, this weekend, if nothing went wrong, then he was going to work up the nerve to ask her, the most important question.  
  
Leela: (A little louder) Fry, did you hear what I said?  
  
Fry: (Shaking himself out of his reverie) Yeah Leela, and I want you to know, I've got something special planned for us this weekend, if you're not going to be busy, that is.  
  
Leela: (Smiling broadly) I think I can get away then. Does your plan have anything to do with a certain anniversary?  
  
Fry: (Blushing a little) Yeah, I just want us to spend some personal time with each other. I want to talk about us and maybe, our future together.  
  
Leela: (Thinking happily) Oh! My! God! Is Fry maybe talking about what I think he is? Oh, I wish it was the weekend already, just three more days to go! Yes!  
  
Fry: (Continuing to speak) .and I hope that we can go out to the Blernsball game, and then we can.hey, what's that flashing light mean, Leela?  
  
Leela: (Turning swiftly back to the controls) Oh no! Fry, go up to the gun turret, and get ready to fire.  
  
Fry: (Worriedly) Leela, what's wrong?  
  
Leela: (Snapping) Hurry up Fry, or we might not make it back at all!  
  
Fry ran up to the ship's gun turret, and put his headset on.  
  
Fry: Okay Leela, I'm here, can you tell me what's wrong? Is it pirates? Zapp and the Nimbus?  
  
Leela: (Sighing) No Fry. It's this meteorite field that we're coming up on. Listen to me carefully. These meteors are comprised of diamonite, one of the hardest substances in the universe. Just one of them the size of a marble would go right through the hull of our ship like a knife through a sheet of paper. You'll have to set the weapon on high power, and vaporize them all. We're too close for me to be able to avoid them now, because they don't show up on sensors until its usually too late.  
  
Fry: (Scared now) Leela, I'm afraid that I won't be able to get them all. What if I.?  
  
Leela: (Comforting) It's all right Fry. I know you can do this. I believe in you. I.I've fallen in love with you, and we're gonna get through this, together. Now let's go and get'em.  
  
Fry: (More confidently) Okay Leela. Let's do this, together.  
  
Leela turned the ship hard on its axis and started flying it upwards, and Fry saw the first meteors on his screens. He turned on the ship's cannon, and just before he started to fire, stopped for a second.  
  
Fry: (Thinking) Leela just said that she loved me. Yes!  
  
With that, he started to fire the cannon at high speed. Every meteor that came near the ship was being vaporized, and Fry quickly settled into a mode of simply looking for targets and firing at the same moment he saw them. Eventually, he got to the point that he was firing as fast as the cannon would recharge, not noticing any of the ship's maneuvers, as Leela tried to steer clear of any stray particles that may have gotten through Fry's firing rate. After a while, Fry blinked, and looked at his screen. There was nothing there. They were clear of the field.  
  
Fry: (Excitedly) Yes! Yeah, we did it Leela! We got through it!  
  
Leela: (Smiling tiredly) I knew we would, Fry. Stay there, while I go and check on our fuel supplies.  
  
Leela got up from her seat, and started to turn when she saw a small glimmer of light outside the main window. She stopped to look at it, damn her depth perception, she couldn't tell how far away it was and.  
  
Leela: Oh god, please, not now damni.  
  
At the same moment, the small particle of diamonite struck the Planet Express window, and simply went though it. The effect was almost instantaneous. Leela felt the cold hit her first, and saw the hole in the window growing larger by the second. Even as she turned to run, and heard the bang of the glass coming apart, Leela felt sadder than scared.  
  
Leela: (Thinking) Fry. I'll miss you so.  
  
That was her last conscious thought, as she felt her body being sucked out side the ship and felt the cold of space fold around her in a moment.  
  
From the enclosed gun turret, Fry looked on in horror, as he saw Leela go flying out of the ship, and slowly start to drift away.  
  
Fry: (In tears) LEELA! Don't leave me. Please! Without you, I won't have anybody to share my life with! LEEELAA!  
  
But Leela was beyond hearing anything now. ____________________________________________________________________________ _________ Four days later  
  
The Planet Express ship, along with a few others, flew towards the Orbiting Meadows mortuary. Leela had never had too many friends during her short life, but the ones she'd made were at least all able to come and see her, for one last time. Her parents, Morris and Munda Leela were escorted in a private limousine, while Fry flew the PE ship. After they arrived, Fry slowly walked up to look at Leela in her casket, while Amy held him gently, and looked in at the person he had ever cared the most for in the whole universe. Tears ran freely down his cheeks, as he realized that she'd never even be able to smack him again.  
  
Fry: (Crying softly) Leela, I'd give anything for you just to get up and slap me now, for doing something stupid, or just yell at me. I wouldn't care if you loved me or hated me, just if you were here with me and we were looking at some one else's body. I'll miss you, Captain.  
  
With that Amy let go of Fry as he slowly walked over to her parents, and spoke to them for just a moment.  
  
Fry: Mr. and Mrs. Leela, I just want you to know, Leela, I mean, Toronga, was one of the greatest people that I ever knew, or ever will know. I just want to say that I'm sorry that I couldn't have done more to save her.  
  
Morris: (Sadly) Your name's Fry, isn't it? Toronga talked about you so much, even before you two started to date. She was always complaining about how you'd did some stupid thing or other, and then in the next breath she's say what a nice and kind person that you were. I think she loved you almost from the time that she met you, but just didn't quite know how to express it to you. You know she had a rough life, but at least we got to spend a little time with her before she.left us.  
  
Morris broke down into tears as he said this, and was unable to speak for a little while. Munda held him by his shoulder and gently looked at Fry, her own eye wet.  
  
Munda: We know Leela loved you, and she told us everything about you. If you ever feel yourself missing your own parents, or Leela herself, then you're welcome to come and visit us at our house. We know that we can't replace your family, but we hope that we can at least act as a substitute for them, it it'll help any.  
  
Fry reached down, and gave them both a warm hug.  
  
Fry: Thank you. I appreciate everything that you've told me, and maybe, I'll take you up on that offer, sometimes.  
  
The Bishop the stood up, and motioned every one to sit down.  
  
Bishop: Everyone, we are gathered here to remember the life of Toronga Leela. She had a very difficult time, but she managed to overcome the hurdles that life threw at her, and turned them around into positives, that we should all learn from. She was one of the bravest captains that flew in space, and was dedicated, and determined to do a good job. She had friends and family who cared for her, and in turn, cared for them all. She has now gone to a place where she will be happy, because all the suffering that she experienced in her life is now over. Think of this as not an ending, but as a new beginning for her, and we can all look forward to the day when we will be reunited with her, in those fields of gold.  
  
Just then, the Nimbus pulled up outside and a shuttle detached from its side. Soon, Zapp Brannigan came up to the podium.  
  
Zapp: What's this terrible joke that I've heard about my delectable one- eyed beauty having died? Where is she, and why are all of you playing a joke like this on me? Why, I've half a mind to throw all of you in the brig and.  
  
Zapp said nothing else, as a furious Fry not even making a sound, walked up to him and hit him in the jaw as hard as he could. Zapp went down like a sack of potatoes, moaning slightly.  
  
Fry: (Angrily) You sonovabitch! Leela is laying here in her casket, and you have the nerve to come in here and disturb her, and us like this! I hope that whatever else happens to you, at least I know you'll never cause Leela any more pain. Now get out, or so help me, I'll beat you till you can't walk away from this.  
  
Zapp: (Shocked) I've never had anyone tell me anything like this before. I knew that you cared for her hairball, but I had no idea.  
  
Fry: That's right. You never had any idea. Just go away, and don't ever bother any of us, again, or so help me.Fry clenched his fist.  
  
Zapp: (Hurriedly) OK, OK. I'll be on my way now.  
  
Zapp went back to his shuttle, and the Nimbus pulled away a few minutes later.  
  
Meanwhile, Fry turned back, to see all the people in the room with an almost identical look of shock on their face.  
  
Fry: (Shamefacedly) I, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done or said that, and I'm, I'm sor.  
  
Both Munda and Morris held out their arms, and Fry ran over to both of them crying, holding on to them as tightly as he had ever held anyone before.  
  
Fry: (Sobbing) I, I, I MISS HER SO MUCH! I wish it had been me here instead of her.  
  
Munda: It's all right Fry. If this had happened to you, I know that Toronga would feel the same way.  
  
Fry: I just wish I'd been a better friend to her, and not have done so many stupid things!  
  
Morris: Fry, It's not what we do, it's what in our heart that counts, and deep down, Leela knew that you cared for her, and that's what's important now.  
  
Fry: I know that I'll never be able to forget her.  
  
Munda: Fry, a wise man once visited us, and helped us in a time of trouble. He told us that all of his family was also long gone. When we asked him how he stood the pain, he said that eventually, we'll forget the pain, just a little, and they'll sleep in the back of our minds. Oh, we'd be able to recall them at any time, but they'll always be with us, taking care of us. Fry, you have a guardian angel now, and she'll always be with you.  
  
All three of them leaned in and held each other, and for a moment, nothing else in the universe mattered.  
  
Bishop: Uh, I apologize for the interruption earlier. If we could finish.  
  
Fry got up, and sat down in his seat next to Hermes, while Bender stood up behind him, with his arms on his shoulders.  
  
Bishop: .And so we commend Captain Toronga Leela's body to the stars, from which we all came, and to which we will one day, return.  
  
With that said, a tune that Fry knew, but couldn't recall began to play, and the casket slowly left the confines of the room, out into the vast darkness of space.  
  
Fry walked up to the window, and looked outside.  
  
Fry: Goodbye Toronga. I'll see you again someday.  
  
For just a moment, Fry felt a spot on his check grow warm for a moment, almost as though he were blushing, though he knew that he wasn't, he couldn't be, could he?  
  
Fry: (Softly) Leela? Are you watching over me? I want you to know that I'll never be unfaithful to your memory. I don't know what all's waiting for us when we die, but I at least know that you're there for me.  
  
With that said, he walked over to Morris and Munda, his new surrogate family, and they all left the room together. As everybody else slowly filed out, they knew that they had to get on with their lives, though each person was painfully aware that a void had been left inside them that would never really be able to be fill.  
  
Well, this was my second fan-fiction. If you liked it, or didn't like it, email me a wbc31@hotmail.com and let me know. I'm always trying to improve my writing style, and any constructive criticism would, of course, be appreciated. I'm hoping to have my follow-up to my first story done in the very near future. Enjoy, and remember, no matter where you go, there you are. 


End file.
